Traders bought shares of Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE:PRU) on weakness during trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. $60.77 million flowed into the stock on the tick-up and $33.12 million flowed out of the stock on the tick-down, for a money net flow of $27.65 million into the stock. Of all equities tracked, Prudential Financial had the 31st highest net in-flow for the day. Prudential Financial traded down ($0.57) for the day and closed at $84.37Specifically, insider Charles F. Lowrey sold 41,644 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $3,331,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 98,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,864,560. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen Pelletier sold 4,470 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.36, for a total transaction of $341,329.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PRU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $93.00 in a report on Friday, September 23rd. Credit Suisse Group AG assumed coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Friday, October 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $89.00 target price for the company. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 21st. Wells Fargo & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Friday, September 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup Inc. dropped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $89.13.

The firm has a market cap of $36.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.68 and a beta of 1.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $80.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.44.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 3rd. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.67. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 8.11%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial Inc. will post ($0.01) EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 23rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 19th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Americafirst Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at $100,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Prudential Financial by 6.7% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Gierl Augustine Investment Management Inc raised its position in Prudential Financial by 14.4% in the second quarter. Gierl Augustine Investment Management Inc now owns 1,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Cantab Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at $132,000. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LLC raised its position in Prudential Financial by 757.0% in the first quarter. Seven Eight Capital LLC now owns 2,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. 60.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc is a financial services company. The Company, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides a range of financial products and services, including life insurance, annuities and investment management. The Company’s divisions include U.S. Retirement Solutions and Investment Management Division; U.S.